Cops may soon be able to analyze the DNA of crime-scene blood or hair without having to send it to the lab, and that power is scaring civil libertarians.
Testing begins this summer on a postage-stamp-sized chip being developed by Nanogen, a San Diego biotech company. The chip is designed to perform DNA analysis within minutes on drops of saliva, semen, or other left-behind human remnants. A portable computer unit can then look for matches from the FBI's national database of felons' DNA.
As almost anyone with a TV knows, a person's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is detectable in everything from saliva to hair to a semen stain on a blue dress, contains a unique genetic "fingerprint."
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Nanogen is one of several companies working on developing fast, chip-based DNA testing for law enforcement, backed by millions of dollars in federal grants.
In June, Nanogen is sending its system to the Bode Technology Group -- one of the nation's largest forensic labs -- for testing. Nanogen hopes to get it on the streets within the next few years, according to company vice president Kieran Gallahue.
An effective chip would be a boon to police, cutting the time for DNA testing from weeks to minutes and the cost to a fraction of its current level. The use of DNA in criminal justice also got a boost last October, when the FBI's national DNA database went online.
The National DNA Index System already contains roughly 150,000 genetic profiles of convicted offenders as well as DNA samples from the scenes of over 8,000 unsolved crimes.
The FBI says its database has helped to solve hundreds of cases while a similar system in England, online since 1995, has linked nearly 30,000 suspects to crime scenes.
But DNA use has been hobbled by the slow, expensive process of testing samples. State law enforcement agencies have already collected 620,000 samples from various lawbreakers, but have analyzed fewer than half.
